Long Island fishing report for the week of September 10, 2026. I grew up fishing this coast, and mid-September on Long Island always meant the albies showing up at the inlets and the last fluke trips before the season closed. This week has delivered both. The albies are at Shinnecock, Moriches, and Fire Island, the fluke are still on the ocean lumps for the last few days of the season, and the canyon boats have been coming back with yellowfin and bigeye.
What’s Hitting
What’s hitting this week is false albacore at the South Shore inlets. Shinnecock, Moriches, Fire Island, and Jones have all had albies on the incoming tide, feeding on rainfish and peanut bunker, with bonito mixed in. Fluke are still on the ocean lumps and the reefs in 40 to 70 feet, and the season is in its final days. Striped bass are showing in the Sound and around the inlets at dawn, mostly schoolies with some keepers on the bunker. Bluefish are on the beaches and in the bays. Sea bass and porgies are thick on the rock piles and wrecks in the Sound and the ocean.
Offshore, the Hudson Canyon has yellowfin, bigeye, and mahi, and there have been some inshore bluefin on the bait south of Shinnecock.
Where to Find Them
For albies, the inlets on the incoming tide and the beaches just outside them — Shinnecock and Moriches have been the most consistent, and the Fire Island Inlet jetty has had fish on the flood. Fluke are on the lumps off Shinnecock and Fire Island in 40 to 70 feet and on the ocean reefs. Stripers are around the Sound beaches and the bunker schools in the western Sound, and at the South Shore inlets at first light. Sea bass and porgies are on the rock piles off the North Shore and the ocean wrecks. Tuna are at the Hudson Canyon edge.
Tides & Conditions
The new moon this weekend brings strong tides through the inlets, which is when the albies feed. Winds have been northeast at 10 to 15 with some rough surf days on the South Shore, and the ocean is in the low 70s with the Sound a few degrees warmer. Seas have been 3 to 5 feet offshore, which has limited the canyon trips to the best days.
Tackle & Tactics
For albies, a light spinning outfit with 15-pound braid, 20-pound fluorocarbon, and small metals or epoxy jigs retrieved fast. For fluke, a bucktail tipped with Gulp or a strip of squid on a 3 to 6-ounce rig on the deeper lumps. Stripers want a topwater plug at dawn or a live bunker on a circle hook. Sea bass and porgies are taking clam and squid on a two-hook rig. In the canyons, chunk butterfish for yellowfin at night and troll ballyhoo and spreader bars during the day.
Local Intel This Week
Public ramps: the Shinnecock Canal ramp and the Ponquogue ramp serve Shinnecock Inlet, the Captree State Park ramp is the main launch for Fire Island Inlet, and the Wantagh ramp covers Jones Inlet. On the North Shore, the Port Jefferson and Huntington town ramps serve the Sound. Shore anglers have been catching albies from the Shinnecock and Moriches jetties and blues from the Robert Moses and Jones Beach surf. Fish are concentrating at the inlets on the incoming tide and on the ocean lumps for fluke. Check current New York DEC regulations before keeping fish — the fluke season closes in mid-September, striped bass have a slot limit, and sea bass and porgy limits and seasons are strict.
This Week’s Tip
Albies at the South Shore inlets come in with the flood and feed along the edge of the current where the inlet meets the ocean. Position yourself on the jetty or the boat so you can cast across the seam, and retrieve as fast as you can. The fish move through in ten-minute bursts, so be ready and do not waste time on a cast that lands short.
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